Bulgaria, Turkey Permits Deal to Enter Force in April

The border permits dispute between Bulgaria and Turkey caused long lines of trucks at the border in February. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's draft agreement with Turkey on the number of border permits is to be finished on Tuesday and come into force in April.

The news, reported by Bulgarian NOVA TV, means that from next month, freight carriers could freely make their way through the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

In mid-February, the two countries decided to make steps toward a full liberalization of license regimes for transit traffic by drafting a new agreement to replace the current one which dates back to 1977 and does not meet trade needs.

Bulgaria's original demand was that border crossing permits to Turkey and to third parties be amounted to 5,000 or 6,000 a year.

Discrepancies over the issue arose between Bulgaria and Turkey in January, when Ankara suspended one-time transit permits issued to Bulgarian carriers, declaring them invalid, while Bulgarian authorities responded with a reciprocal measure.

This led to a blockade at the common border in February, with huge queues of tractor trailers at the main border crossings insisting that a quicker solution be found to the stand-off.

The stalemate, however, came to an end as a deal was reached within days.

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